THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2021
WARDEN ’ S REPORT
SIR RICHARD STAGG ( G , 1969-73 )
You don ’ t need me to tell you that 2021 was a most unusual year . For Winchester , it meant another year of adapting to the challenges of the pandemic and to the oftenchanging requirements of the government . Once again , the Headmaster and his senior team managed to navigate the shoals of COVID very deftly — not least , the requirement to produce Teacher Assessed Grades instead of normal public exams . But I am entirely clear that multiple constraints meant that we could not offer the boys in our care the full Winchester experience .
That said , it would be wrong to focus only on the trials and tribulations : there were moments of joy and happiness . There were many highlights for me . First , the double Domum Dinner at the beginning of July for the 2020 and 2021 leavers . In fact , this was two lunches in a marquee which allowed us to celebrate the boys ’ time in the school — if a little more sedately than normal . Secondly , General Sir Nick Carter ’ s reception Ad Portas in September . This was the first such ceremony since 2012 and meant a lot to me personally , as Nick and I served together in Afghanistan . We could not have had a better model of an OW to inspire a younger generation of Wykehamists — and the Aulae Prae performed majestically , in Latin and English , without a single note . Finally , the Amicabilis Concordia , when the choirs of Eton and Winchester sang wonderfully together in College Chapel ( to mark an agreement between the two schools and their Oxbridge Colleges which was signed in 1444 ). It reminded me of the special place which music holds in the school ’ s life .
Last February , the Governing Body outlined its Vision for the future of the school . Since then , there has been much hard work to begin making a reality of these aspirations . The Headmaster and his colleagues have been interviewing
5